tonight, renewed calls for help in the northeast from the wrath of hurricane sandy. good afternoon, everyone, i'm jim handly. >> i'm pat lawson muse. 37 in new york city alone, more than 4 million people are still without power. and countless more hours of cleanup are still ahead for many. >> as the recovery ramps up right now, jay gray has more on the potential bad news in the forecast. >> reporter: where the damage is so intense, so far reaching, it can be hard to figure out how to even start to come back. >> you see their whole livelihoods crash into the ocean. it's devastating. >> reporter: in many areas, crews are moving the mess that sandy left behind. but in some of the hardest hit communities, like seaside heights, new jersey, there are no recovery teams or residents yet, and frustrations are building. >> why safe there and nowhere else? talk to the rest of the homeowners. >> the gas mains we're scared

of. >> i don't care about a house, i care about your lives. >> reporter: lives, that like the atlantic coast have been battered and torn apart. >> no electricity, no heat, no hot water. we need more help. >> reporter: supplies and support are pouring in, water by the truckloads, troops and heavy equipment, still, the need is overwhelming. >> the full toll of hurricane sandy on new yorkers is still emerging. >> reporter: the recovery still unfolding. subway trains are slowly coming back online. charging stations through technology, but the lives like these, thousands waiting for buses in brooklyn, cars trying to inch back into the city and miles of motorists waiting for cash pushes at times, literally, to try and come back. >> recovering from it not going to be easy. but by working together we will recover and we will rebuild. our city's stronger than ever. >> reporter: strength they will need as so many struggle to survive.

hundreds of thousands will likely be without power until next week, around the same time that forecasters say a strong winter storm could again blast this region. in toms river, new jersey, jay gray, news4. in addition to limited transportation service, limited cell phone svice is now a problem in sandy's wake. the federal government said power outages and flooding have forced more than 20% of cell tower sites to shut down in ten northeastern states. that's led to millions of dropped cell phone calls. new york and new jersey have the largest number of outages right now. mobile cell phone carriers, including sprint, verizon and at&t say they're working to restore service just as quickly as possible. >> while thousands of people try to figure out their next steps after this storm, stories of resilience and human kindness are also emerging. more on sandy, ruin and recovery, coming up tonight in a special edition of "rock center." that's at 10:00 here on nbc 4.

developing at this hour, the suspect in a series of stafford county pipe bombings is under arrest in montana. the stafford county sheriff's department said 25-year-old laurence stewart ii threw pipe bombs at police when they tried to pull him over today. stewart also had a handgun. but police eventually caught him after a foot chase. he's now facing multiple charges including attempted murder. stewart is wanted for targeting an ex-girlfriend and two police officers with homemade pipe bombs. just five days now for the campaign for the white house. battleground virginia is in the center of it all. mitt romney has three stops today in the commonwealth. while president obama is hitting three other swing states. news4's steve handelsman is on capitol hill with the latest on this final stretch. >> reporter: jim, good evening. both sides now, this close to next tuesday, have their eyes a little bit on some other states that they either hope or fear might alter the election calculation. it's that close. but the nine swing states still

matter most. mitt romney went to virginia, a swing state where the polls show the race tied, and made his closing argument. >> if the president were to be reelected, you're going to see high levels of unemployment continue, and stalled wage growth. if any wage growth at all, just like we've seefr over the last four years. >> reporter: his new ad is positive. >> mitt romney understands business, knows how to create jobs and get our economy moving. >> reporter: but the former governor's path to a win looks difficult. in today's nbc news marist poll, romney's down by 6% in ohio, closer in new hampshire and wisconsin. that's where air force one went today, green bay. president obama back on the trail after suspending campaigning for hurricane sandy. he made his closing argument. >> we know what change looks like. and what the governor's offering sure ain't change. giving more power back to the

biggest banks isn't change, leaving millions without health insurance isn't change. >> reporter: his new ad features colin powell. >> the president saved the auto industry. and the actions he has taken with respect to protecting us from terrorism have been very, very solid. >> reporter: the ads running in the nine swing states plus minnesota, an acknowledgement that governor's got a shot to win that election. >> the president wants to see four more years, and that's his chance, four more years. but our chant is this, five more days. >> reporter: but floridians lined up for early voting. tuesday is the last day of the election. new york mayor michael bloomberg, an independent who last time endorsed no candidate, today in the wake of hurricane sandy,urged the re-election of barack obama. i'm steve handelsman, news4. >> as the presidential race enters the final stretch, there

is an unprecedented amount of money spent on advertising. nbc news reports ad campaigning is approaching $1 billion. team romney has outspent team obama $573 million to nearly $400 million. if outside money is taken out of the equation, president obama's campaign has outspent romney's campaign $330 million to $210 million. early voting continues today in maryland, and so do the long lines. in rockville, the line wrapped around bower drive community center. voters say the wait was only about 45 minutes there. but in oxen hill, some say they waited for between four and five hours to cast their ballot. early voting has been extended until tomorrow, and polls will be open until 9:00 p.m. at 5:00, chris gordon tells us why voters are waiting in long

lines and voting in record numbers. we've been fighting the clouds and the cold temps all day long. but we might see some sun before this week is out. >> meteorologist veronica johnson is in the storm 4 weather center with an update. hey, veronica. >> hey there, jim and pat. gray, gray, and more gray across the area today. even just a tad, a little bit of wet weather. is that any way to start the first of november? i don't think so. temperatures today have been running about ten degrees cooler than average. we now sit at 46 degrees, just up to the north there. gaithersburg, and hyattsville coming in at 52. 46 degrees in fredericksburg. again, a little bit of rain today. the form of some sprinkles. isolated sprinkles still going on. montgomery county, frederick county, howard, northern prince george's county, all through the

area right now. chilly conditions, and then turning cold. in your fast forecast, how cold by morning? when does the sunshine come back full force? and the possibility of a storm next week. you'll have to stick around for that. the details coming up in just a few. business owners are assessing the damage today after a massive fire broke out overnight at a wholesale warehouse in northeast d.c. the businesses are in the old union market building near gallaudet university. so far, no word on a cause yet. as news4's megan mcgrath reports, it is still causing problems in the neighborhood. >> reporter: smoke could be seen billowing out the windows and the roof of the warehouse. early on, concerns cropped up about the safety of firefighters. they had to pull back and attack the flames from a safe distance. >> warehouses are a nightmare for firefighters. the building is insecure and

keeps burglars out, so it's hard to get in, and there's a lot of merchandise in a small place. >> reporter: the old union market consists of wholesale warehouses. many of the vendors specialize in meats and poultry. others sell souvenirs and textiles. the blaze broke out in a warehouse filled with clothing, and then spread to adjoining businesses. electricity to the whole area was cut. >> they have all the electricity off, so we've got no electricity. won't be able to operate until they get started. >> reporter: as the sun came up, firefighters began to take a closer look. smoke still coming out of the windows. the power outage became a more pressing concern. >> we have to defer to the fire department. >> reporter: without electricity, many businesses couldn't open. owners began to worry about losing merchandise in their refrigerators and freezers. >> there's no power, no business. >> so you're losing money.

>> a lot. >> reporter: while there was a lot of damage associated with this fire, the good news is, there were no injuries. in northeast, megan mcgrath, news4. four businesses are damaged and remain closed this evening, some but not all of the electricity is back on now. and the newly redeveloped union market complex located nearby was not damaged. when news4 continues this afternoon, new charges filed in connection with the jerry sandusky sex abuse case. who knew what, and when. alec baldwin, how he's joining the hurricane sandy relief effort in his own neighborhood. we all know halloween isn't just for kids. see how celebrities got in on the festivities last night. that, plus hollywood headlines when we come back.

jessica simpson appears to be losing a lot of the baby weight she put on. take a look at this pic out today. the new mom and weight watchers spokeswoman posted these photos on her fan page. you can see her in her slim-fitting milk maid costume for halloween. she and her fiance posed with their daughter. she said publicly she's lost more than 40 pounds since giving birth in may. rihanna is really going

global now. and to help lil wayne. >> george is here, she joins us now with the latest from hollywood. and let's start with miley cyrus. >> you're like, really? she went as nikki minaj? she wore a onesie. she wore a blond wig. she actually sent this to nikki menage. nikki minaj applauded it. she said, i like that you're wearing my garbs. nikki minaj said she doesn't dress for halloween, because every day is halloween for her. >> all year long. >> miley gets approval. chris brown, though, getting a lot of heads turning over his costume that appears to be terror inspired.

>> yeah. i can't imagine why he would go -- he was at rihanna's big halloween bash. he had the caption, nobody messes with my click, which is a kanye west song. just not smart. they had guns in the picture. a lot of people didn't like that very much. he got a lot of posts on twitter. a lot of fans went at him for that one. >> that's not a surprise. >> rihanna got crowned queen of west hollywood. >> she's doing this tour. seven is her favorite number, she's going to seven different countries, performing seven times, and also doing it on a boeing 777. she's got fans coming, special broadcasts, or actually reporters that she likes to work with. i'm not one of those that's going on the trip. but anyway, she's doing the 7-7-7 thing, that starts september 14th. if you're an uber fan, she's got

a fan base that she loves, and some of them are going to be able to get on the plane with her and go on tour with her. to seven different countries. if they love her, how about she's got an album, if you're an uber fan, $250 for this album, guys. >> no. >> yeah, now, this album supposedly has remixes. it's got handwritten notes from rihanna. i'm sure they're copies of handwritten notes from rihanna. but i guess if you're an uber fan, it would be a collector's item. >> jewels. >> i hope they're real jewels. >> lil wayne was grounded. >> he had two seizures on two flights, had to be grounded in texas. his doctors are like, you can't fly anywhere. he's actually supposed to be in court in los angeles earlier this year, earlier this week, actually. his doctor is like, you can't go. you've got to stay home. he's got to take a bus to get back to his house in miami.

>> i hope he feels better soon. what's the deal with ashton kutcher and demi moore? they've been separated for about a year now. but tmz is saying, maybe there's a reason they're not getting divorced? >> this was rumored that they never really married. here's why i say this. he's dating. she she's not dating. but they're not trying to divide property, divide money. they're not talking about a divorce. which leads me to believe they kind of had a ceremony, but never really got married. that's just my own personal opinion. i don't know. why haven't we heard about the divorce? or maybe they're trying to get back together. i don't know. >> strange. >> that is. >> odd. >> real quick, you dressed up last night as -- >> honey booboo's mom, june, sugar bear. i tried to get my 16-year-old to go as honey booboo. but he wouldn't. >> that probably would have been sad for him to do that.

>> thanks, georgia. >> you're welcome. >> we'll be listening to you. >> let's get the word on the weather now. veronica is standing by. you know, it did get cold last night. it was a frigid start this morning, veronica. >> that, it was frigid. a lot of folks with the nice warm jacket on today. or the nice warm coat, right? 52 is our current temperature at reagan international airport with an overcast sky. i'll take you back to early this morning when we had clouds across the area. and a lot more in the way of that light rain that was falling. hagerstown, martinsburg, winchester, but throughout the area a little let of those sprinkles coming through, down towards fredericksburg, areas near roanoke, even earlier this storm system from days ago, this monster storm still impacting so much of the area. and indeed, we're seeing those sprinkles making their way from west to east in the area right

now. 48 is the temperature in hagerstown, maryland. 46 in winchester. 52 in d.c. 54 in culpepper. and 54 degrees in charlottesville. there's that move on the radar. we'll go ahead and zoom in a little tighter to see who is getting a little wet right now. leesburg, frederick, gaithersburg, baltimore, lake shore, areas just down to the south, including areas east of annapolis, will be getting very light showers and sprinkles coming up over the next couple of minutes. it's a little umbrella that you will need for the evening going out. and a coach, with chilly conditions, 46 degrees by 11:00 p.m. then tomorrow morning, cold as we start out in the upper 30s to about 40 degrees around the area. so finally, again, sandy will start making its way out of here. still some clouds for tomorrow. more clouds, then sunshine. but by the weekend, we finally get out from under sandy of a partly sunny sky coming our way.

i think even a little bit of sunshine coming up for us sunday. forecast for the evening, 43 to 47 degrees, with a few showers. we're breezy and cold for the evening. with a southwest wind at 5 to 10. and then tomorrow morning, i think temperatures will be even a little lower, guys. with clouds, continued cold, 34 to 40 degrees. and look at that high temperature, mostly cloudy, breezy, cool, 49 to 54. the other thing about tomorrow is that the temperature will be about what it is today. but with more wind around, we'll probably be talking windchill temperatures for tomorrow. >> oh. >> don't forget sunday, 2:00 a.m., we go back to standard time. >> right. >> don't forget to set those clocks. on the extended forecast, we've got a bigger storm to talk about. we'll do that coming up in the next couple of minutes. and what we didn't get to yesterday was the effect of climate change. what it may have had on sandy. >> thanks, veronica. still to come on news4 at 4:00, one of the residual

effects of sandy. the great lengths some are going to to fill up their tanks. what do you do with a cruise ship empty because of a hurricane? how you can get a last-minute getaway for a bargain? a special visit to students from a washington football player with an important message.

partial subway service has returned in new york today. but for many in nearby new jersey, one of the hottest commodities is gasoline. >> most gas stations have been sold out since sandy hit. as richard explains now, at stations that are open, drivers have a long wait. >> reporter: pat, we've been here all long. this line hasn't changed at all. it goes back through two towns. it's 60 cars to the end.

these cars have had to pass by one other gas station, it ran out of gas earlier last night. and that's one situation why they won't be open. second is they don't have electricity. pricing now, about $3.55 at this location. there have been some reports of prices greater than that. the division of consumer affairs is dealing with the issue of perhaps gouging. this location, cash only. two reasons why they do that. first of all, faster transactions, two, they make a couple extra cents. perhaps even a police car or some sort of security, they have to block off the lane here for those getting gas and those who want to go through without being interrupted. over here at the gas station, they've got 9,000 gallons yesterday. they sold out completely. they got 9,000 gallons today. it looks like they might have enough until this evening around 10:00 p.m. >> all right. still ahead on news4 at 4:00, new charges in the penn state child sex abuse scandal.

school leaders now face charges they covered it up. looking for a weekend getaway? we've got a deal for you.

welcome back to news4 at 4:00. i'm pat lawson muse. >> and i'm jim handly. a man wanted for pipe bombing three homes in northern virginia is under arrest in montana. police tell us laurence stewart threw two more pipe bombs at police when they tried to pull him over. he was eventually taken into custody, facing murder and other charges. the death toll from hurricane sandy has climbed to more than 80. 4.5 million people are still without power this afternoon, but that's down from the peak of more than 8 million. the utilities in new york say they're on track to restore power by saturday. back on the trail today for president obama. he's campaigning in three states, and making his final push to voters after taking time off to deal with storm damage in the northeast. mitt romney's making three stops

in virginia today. both campaigns will be eyeing the october unemployment numbers. they're set to be released tomorrow. positive retail sales. and higher consumer confidence gave stocks a big boost on the second day of trading since sandy. the dow gained 136 points to close at 13,232. the nasdaq gained 42, and the s&p 500 was up by 15. more charges today in the penn state sex abuse scandal. former high ranking officials at the university are now charged with endangering children by not going to police to report abuse against kids. mark barger has more on what prosecutors are calling a conspiracy of silence. >> reporter: almost five months after former penn state assistant coach jerry sandusky was convicted of sexually abusing young boys, graham spanier was charged with trying to cover up those actions. additional charges were also filed against two other former penn state officials. >> this was not a mistake by

these men, it was not an oversight, it was not misjudgment on their part. this was a conspiracy of silence by top officials working to actively conceal the truth. >> reporter: spanier joins tim curley and former university vice president gary schultz in facing a total of five charges. perjury, criminal conspiracy, obstruction of justice, failure to report suspected child abuse and endangering the welfare of children. >> if these men had done what they were supposed to do, and what they were legally required to do, several young men may not have been attacked by a serial predator. >> reporter: all three former penn state officials have publicly maintained their innocence. spanier's attorneys insisted, no fak you'll basis to support these charges. the lawyers blame the charges on pennsylvania's republican governor tom corbett, who began the sandusky investigation as attorney general. and could seek re-election in

2014. >> the charges being filed today have not relationship whatsoever to any elections. >> reporter: spanier, curley and schultz are all expected to be arraigned on friday. mark barger, nbc news. >> when asked, the attorney general kelley would not say whether charges would have been filed against former penn state football coach joe paterno who died earlier this year. an update on our forecast. >> another day with cloud cover across the area. just check out the shot behind me. high atop the gaylord national resort. you can see cloudy skies, and today not much blue at all peeking through. in fact, we've had sprinkles throughout the day. we're at 46 degrees now in gaithersburg. you folks over at ellicott city at 49 degrees. 52 in d.c. 53 degrees in belvoir. and 53 degrees currently over in areas around warrenton. as far as our overnight temperatures, dropping tonight. it's back to coat weather again

tomorrow, pretty much just leave that coat on now and get ready for a thicker coat. down to about the 30s to 40 degrees tomorrow. high temperature going up to 54. breezy blustery 54. the new york power outage caused by hurricane sandy may have damaged or destroyed medical research. officials returned to nyu langon medical center today to assess the extent of the damage. they say lab specimens left in refrigerators, freezers and incubators may have been destroyed. the backup generators failed on monday forcing an evacuation of the hospitals. carnival is seeking the silver lining in sandy's storm clouds. the cruise line is offering a two-night crews to nowhere this weekend on the carnival pride, which is docked in baltimore. the ship was supposed to leave port last sunday on a cruise that had to be canceled as sandy approached. the regular cruise schedule will

resume on sunday. prices for the friday/saturday night cruise to nowhere start at $129 per night per person. >> wow. injuries are keeping them off the field this year but one of the redskins' biggest stars is still reaching out to the community. brian orakpo spoke to students today at john f. kennedy high school in wheaton. it was part of the nfl's fuel up to play 60 program, encouraging kids to eat healthy and play 60 minutes a day. orakpo says he remembers what high schoolers eat. his message today was about making changes that help whether you're an athlete or not. >> you know, when i was at a point in time i was eating nothing but junk food, and nothing but, you know, terrible things going into my body, so i wanted to be able to excel on the field, hi to do something with my life. i wanted to come here today and share some similar experiences i had going through high school. >> fuel up to play 60 has been reached 70,000 schools across

the country. >> good for him. there is more to come on news4 at 4:00. it happened in just a matter of minutes. but it will take years to rebuild. coming up, we're getting a picture of the scope of the damage done to the jersey shore. and a virginia dog owner finds her missing pup, where she least expected it. months after giving up hope. [ earnest ] out of the blue one day, we were told to build a 30-foot stage. gathered the guys and we built that 30-foot stage, not knowing what it was for.

just days later, all three shifts were told to assemble in the warehouse. a group of people walked out on that stage and told us that the plant is now closed and all of you are fired... i looked both ways, i looked at the crowd, and...we all just lost our jobs. we don't have an income. mitt romney made over 100 million dollars by shutting down our plant and devastated our lives. turns out that when we built that stage, it was like building my own coffin, and it just made me sick. [ male announcer ] priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising.

when we think no one is looking. pris what we do...ion mitt romney: believe that they are victims. anncr: mitt romney thought no one was looking when... he attacked forty-seven percent of americans. his companies shipped jobs overseas. his plan cuts millionaires' taxes, but raises yours. he'll voucherize medicare... and make catastrophic cuts to education. so remember what romney said... and what his plan would do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

now, here's a problem you don't see every day, a penguin invasion in cape town, south africa. the people who live near the beach for the endangered birds say the penguins have taken over their neighborhoods, destroying their gardens. one woman said their constant bellowing keeps her up at night. government officials promise to build a new fence to keep them in place. pretty soon. so that's what they sound like. wow. the bellowing. >> yeah. >> looks like a scene out of a

movie, doesn't it? southwest virginia family had an unexpected and very happy reunion after a member of their family disappeared for about six months. tinkerbell, an 11-year-old dachshund, a fixture at this auto shop, but in april she got out and somehow couldn't find her way back. a couple of days ago, gustler's daughter made a stop at a place called tractor supply where the humane society was holding an adoption event. >> i knew it was her, and she recognized me. i started crying. i lost it. i think everybody there thought i was crazy, because i was saying, i know that dog, that's my dad's dog. >> turns out tinkerbell had traveled some 70 miles before she was picked up by the humane society. now tinkerbell is back on post and greeting customers at gustler's auto shop. >> tinkerbell's pretty tough. didn't go hungry we notice there. she's got some lbs on her.

when we come back, new yorkers come together to get through the hurricane aftermath. what alec baldwin and his wife are doing for neighbors who are stranded in their homes. and a shark attack survivor shares his story. what he says he did to release the predator's jaws.

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there's still a lot of uncertainty in new york city following the devastation from superstorm sandy. >> at the same time we're also hearing stories of human kindness. tonight on "rock center" with brian williams, we'll see how "30 rock" star alec baldwin is helping his neighbors. natalie morales has the story. >> reporter: after sandy struck much of the lower part of manhattan, it was plunged into darkness. alec baldwin and his wife moved to a hotel to weather the storm. but soon returned to their

apartment to help their neighbors. >> in the building we live in, which is a 12-story building with a pent house, in the village they have a lot of elderly people, with no elevator service. as you can see, there's no power here in the east village anywhere. so in our building, you can assume that people who were elderly can't go up and down the stairs to get meals, water, any prescriptions. even if they could get them. walk their dogs. so we volunteered to come today to stand by for a couple of hours, especially during the mealtime, and see if we could be of any help to them. we left to go to a hotel, because we can't take our dogs up -- we don't want to take them up and down 12 flights. >> the moment something goes wrong, we fight for each other fiercely. i think so. >> you can watch natalie's full report tonight on "rock center"

with brian williams at 10:00 right here on nbc 4. a special programming note. tomorrow, all the networks of nbc, including nbc 4, will broadcast a special benefit concert for the victims of sandy. among the performers, jersey's bruce springsteen, bon jo vi, and matt lauer will host. you can watch it here on nbc 4, right after it at 10:00, we'll air monday night's episode of revolution. stay tuned, of course, for news4 at 11:00. veronica, your eyes are glued to your computer and your weather models and we're interested in what you're seeing. >> we're still looking at the last storm, kind of evaluating it, looking at the next storm. it was the last storm sandy that we were looking at the weekend before last. days and days before it came up the coast. meteorologist chuck bell was looking at the guidance, the computer model. i'm going to talk to chief meteorologist doug kammerer right now who has a little bit more on the different models we were looking at and which one we

were focusing on last week. >> i'll tell you what, veronica, this goes without saying, that the model for us as forecasters really help us shape our own forecast. of course, we're looking at all the different computer models to figure out exactly where we want to go with the storm. when we track a storm like sandy, let's look as it forms just south of jamaica. it actually formed last monday. one of the computer models stood out, and even last monday before the storm even formed, before it even had a name, one of the computer models in particular actually giving us this storm coming up the coast. and that particular computer model comes out of europe, believe it or not. it is the european model. and that particular model brought that storm right over towards the coast. it made that left-hand turn very, very quickly. right into our region. this was the model we looked at. this is the model we have stuck with, because by far, it is a better computer model than, unfortunately, the american models, which not enough money has been put in the american models lately. even last wednesday, the

american models taking sandy out to sea. it wasn't until wednesday night, into thursday, that they started to converge on the same model, as the european model. so once again, we were following the euro all together. we're looking at another storm potentially next week. it could be a potential nor'easter. one of those computer models has a big nor'easter. the other one has a storm. i'll talk about which one has which, and which one we're going with, coming up. >> that's right, doug. we're getting a lot of questions with people asking about global climate change. global warming, politics aside, even if you don't believe in human influence on global warming, the earth is warming. i want you to take a look at some of the interesting facts about sandy. so climate scientists believe that global warming has added to the increase in precip, including intensity, and the excess rainfall in the top three sources of hurricane damage. the big thing is sea level rise. climate change has raised sea level with every hurricane, including sandy. in fact, there are projections

by the year 2100 it will rise 8 to 12 inches. put that surf atop a higher ocean and it penetrates a lot further inland. the debate is still out about global change that this being a hybrid storm. 54 degrees, breezy conditions. for the weekend, some sunshine, as we go back to standard time. the high 54 to 53. we'll keep you posted. coming up, a surfer who faced the jaws of a shark is talking about the move that likely saved his life. and runners take your heels. dupont circle tradition lives on. i'm wendy rieger. coming up at 5:00, a young woman brutally attacked in her apartment in the middle of the day. we have an exclusive interview. we'll find out how she survived

after the attacker left her for dead. understanding, how to use the new express lanes can be tricky. we'll take you through the hov cost saving process. tonight at 6:00. why could hurricane sandy be a major setback for cancer research. president obama: there's just no quit in america... and you're seeing that right now. over five million new jobs. exports up forty one percent. home values... rising. our auto industry... back. and our heroes are coming home. we're not there yet, but we've made real progress and the... last thing we should do is turn back now. here's my plan for the next four years: making education and training a national priority; building on our manufacturing boom; boosting american-made energy; reducing the deficits responsibly by cutting where... we can, and asking the wealthy to pay a little more. and ending the war in afghanistan, so we can... do some nation-building here at home.

that's the right path. so read my plan, compare it to governor romney's... and decide which is better for you. it's an honor to be your president... and i'm asking for your vote... so together, we can keep moving america forward. i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

grab your high heels, on your mark, the annual high heel race takes place tonight at 7:00 in d.c.'s dupont circle neighborhood. the race is unlike any other race. men dress in drag, and they run in pumps down 17th street in northwest. and they try not to trip or tumble. a shark attack victim in california is skripg the ordeal now for the first time. surfer scott stevens suffered serious injuries to his midsection when the shark attacked him on tuesday. the massive gouge out of his surf board gives you some idea of what he went through.

he suffered a 14-inch bite wound on the left side of his rib cage. but doctors say the shark did not reach any of his vital organs. stevens said the shark grabbed him and wouldn't let him go. >> i punched the shark in the side of the head a come of times. >> remarkably stevens said he plans to resume surfing as soon as his injuries are healed. the attack happened tuesday in the waters off northern california. one week earlier, a great white shark killed a surfer in southern california. after the break, an iconic new jersey town wiped away. >> coming up, the town made famous by the jersey shore has to figure out how to move on.

hurricane sandy has forever changed the new jersey shore line. the town of seaside heights is one of the hardest hit. landmarks some several generations old were washed away. they do plan to rebuild, but as michele franzen reports, it will be a long road back for the residents who remember what was. >> reporter: seaside heights, riding out hurricane sandy. bobbi and her three dogs stepped

off a national guard truck wednesday, happy to be on the mainland and toms river. >> when the water came in, it was -- all of a sudden it was up to here. it was a very sudden thing. i don't think over there was prepared for it. >> reporter: and no one was prepared to see the aftermath. streets and homes once flooded now covered in debris or destroyed. >> it's still hard to believe. you know, you feel you're going to wake up any minute. it's sickening. it's sad. >> reporter: the beach community most recently put on the map by mtv's "jersey shore" was virtually wiped out by hurricane sandy. the town's biggest attraction, the boardwalk, and the amusement rides including the iconic roller coaster, now propped in the atlantic ocean after sandy ripped away the boardwalk underneath it. >> you look out here now and you see all this devastation, in an area where you guys have lived.

>> it's devastation. no other word for it. >> reporter: captain joseph mitchell and rescue crews have spent the past few days going door to door, and helping stranded residents like c.j. and his dog get out. >> she's probably cold and excited. >> reporter: just north along the jersey shore, dozens of homes, and the entire landscape have been violently altered by the force of mother nature. for residents like melissa griffith, who witnessed sandy's wrath, it was a life-altering experience. >> i was born and raised on the beach. this is all i know. and i survived this one. and everyone says it's worse than '62. i survived. >> now, at 5:00, a news4 exclusive. the victim of a brutal crime is telling her story. just minutes ago, amtrak announced service between new york and locations to the south. they turn to normal tonight.

millions remain without power in new york and new jersey. some places could be in the dark for weeks. finding gas. a gas station to fill up your car has become an adventure for millions of drivers. a man uses party fliers as his ruse to get into a woman's apartment and slash her. hear from the victim who survived the attack. good evening, everybody, i'm jim handly. >> and i'm wendy rieger. we start with a woman's firsthand account of how she survived a vicious attack that almost killed her. police say the man in this surveillance video is the suspect. the victim was stabbed more than 25 times, and she was left for dead. it all started with a knock on the door friday afternoon. d.c. police chief kathy lanier is livid and she wants this man off the streets. news4's pat collins talked exclusively with the victim, from her hospital room this afternoon. pat? >> reporter: wendy, she's a smart young woman who came to our city last summer to pursue a consulting career. tonight she's in a